Integrating Customer Feedback
You know how everyone is always telling you to put your focus on the customer; identify the target market, speak in your customers’ voice and give them what matters to them? These are all very important. BUT (and this is a big but) I think that this actually comes much later in the process.
The first step in giving customers what they want actually starts with YOU and your brand. Let me explain. In the world of small business, the small business owner is the true reflection of the brand. And that means that if you don’t know who YOU are and what you are committed to inside of your business — you are going to be targeting the wrong people. You are going to be confused about what matters to them and ultimately all of this will lead to a ridiculous sense of overwhelm.
Are you feeling it? Of course, you are. In case you aren’t sure, let me give show you how overwhelm occurs — and if you can relate to any of this — you’ve got it and getting clear on who you are, who your ideal customers is and what matters to them will ELIMINATE (I’m not kidding) more than 80% of the things that have been making you crazy.
- You find yourself saying “I have too much to do and not enough time.”
- You’re trolling sites, tools, gurus and programs looking for some kind of silver bullet that will magically bring new, ideal customers to you and help you make more money.
- You just “don’t get” all the social media stuff and you’re wondering whether you should bee Tweeting, blogging or Googling. Which of these platforms or strategies is going to deliver the customers and cash that you’re after?
These are just a few — I could go on, but you get what I’m saying.
What happens every 8 minutes — and are you next?
Every 8 minutes a small business DIES; one of our tribe just throws in the towel, quits, gets disgusted and closes their doors. With that, their dream dies, they put their tail between their legs and do something else. Always wondering if it could have been better or thinking that they just weren’t good enough.
I call BS on that — Not YOU and not TODAY
That doesn’t have to be YOU — not today at least. Because today, I’m going to tell you why small businesses die and how to not to be “THAT guy or girl”.
The Only 3 Reasons That Will Take Your Business DOWN
Overwhelm: I don’t need to say more about this — you know who you are. If you find yourself wondering, guessing, trying, failing, going with your gut — this is what overwhelm looks like. If you aren’t feeling downright grounded in who you are, who your ideal customer is and what they want from you. You are in overwhelm and literally hemorrhaging time and money.
What to do about it: STOP IT! Seriously — just stop everything. Take out a piece of paper and answer these three power-branding questions.
- Who are you being? Are you being desperate? Are you being a jerk? Are you being generous? Who are you being inside of your business? If I were a video camera, what would I see and who would I say you were being. This takes serious reflection and an unfailing commitment to honesty. If you want to get a real answer, ask your teenager or significant other or very best friend. They will tell you — “You’re being a(n) ______” You have to be honest with yourself because you literally will not take the right actions if you are solving the wrong perception.
- What are you committed to? Again — this is a toughie because you have to be really honest with yourself. And you know what I’m talking about here. There is what you SAY that you are committed to and then what you are REALLY committed to. (Put DOWN the Christmas cookie if you SAID you were committed to healthy eating” When in doubt — go to your bank statements and see where your time and money go. There is your answer. Inside of your business — what BEHAVIORS are you doing? Again, if I were a video camera, what would I see and what would that say about what your true commitments are.
- What can your customers count on you for? What do people always call you about that they know that you can deliver on. For example, people are always calling me and asking me about what cool tools and resources I’m using to automate my marketing. People can count on me for that. What about you?
Not enough customers: Well if you’re dealing with overwhelm and you aren’t clear on the questions I just asked above — is it any wonder that you’re not getting those wonderful customers that you’re after? No. I like to say that you can’t sell ANYTHING to EVERYBODY.
What to do about it:
- Target and choose just those customers who you love that love you back. You know who they are. And you also know who the PITA (Pain in the A__) customers are. You want less PITAs and more fans.
- Describe your ideal. I call this the milk-carton method. Describe your ideal customer in as much detail as you can muster that if you told me the description, I would see them everywhere and send them to you.
- FOCUS. Yup. Just talk to THAT ideal customer. Write messages, blog posts, have conversations — just with those people. Promise yourself that you will do that.
- Stop freaking out — I know that you are freaking out because you think that you will be ignoring potential people who will be buying from you — this is a lie. The opposite will happen. Your ideal customers will start responding.
Not enough money: This is what happens when you let the first two things we’ve talked about take over — Overwhelm and a broad net of untargeted customers.
What to do about it:
- Start developing an offer for just your ideal customer — pick one person and make something just for them.
- Get into conversations with your customers
- Collect feedback from your customers
- LISTEN to what they have to say.
How to integrate the feedback to your brand
The main message here is to first be clear on who you are. Then identify your ideal customer. Your next step is to get into verbal conversations first. Get to know your customers, who they are, what they value, what matters and where they go for solutions.
ASK them about your offer, how it lands on them, what’s right about it, what’s wrong about it.
You’re going to want to do surveys and social media stuff because it’s easy and you don’t have to talk to anyone — this is a mistake. Reach out and have conversations first. Learn as much as you can about your customers. If you’ve uncovered the profile of your ideal customer – this should be easy.
Get into conversations with experts on getting customer feedback
We’ve made this conversation easy for you — because this Wednesday, December 18 at 11am PT and 2pm ET you can join a bevy of customer service experts to uncover the critical elements of collecting feedback, why it’s important and some of the most creative ways to collect customer feedback successfully.
It’s going to be a Goolge+ Hangout and you will absolutely love it because you’ll actually get to see and interact with the experts!
Check out the details here: https://www.questionpro.com/webinar/
